October 10, 2010

(Oh great – now that song by The Wiggles is going to be stuck in my head all day!)

Do you like French Fries?

I’m going to go out on a limb and make the assumption that you answered “Yes” to that question.

These are a much healthier and much tastier alternative to regular French Fries. We first tried this recipe, which was loosely adapted from a recipe I’d seen in some cookbook I’d checked out of the Library, a few summers ago during one of our camping adventures in the yard. Although I cooked these inside the house in a regular oven (one of the great benefits of camping at home), we served them beside veggie burgers and ate them around the fire pit. They were a big hit!

Back then, I made them with regular bread crumbs, but since we discovered Spawn #1 is gluten-intolerant, I now use gluten-free Bread Crumbs, which I easily make myself. Here’s how to do it:

You’ll need some slices of Gluten Free Bread. The leftover ends work well, but any slices will do.

Cut into cubes (or just tear if you don’t want to get your cutting board and knife dirty).

Place into bowl of your Food Processor. If you don’t have a Processor, you could use a coffee grinder, working in small batches.

Process until they are the texture you desire – coarse or fine.

Place crumbs in a baking pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes. You don’t want them to brown much, you just want to get the moisture out.

Let cool until ready to use.

I usually like to make a batch with whatever GF Bread is leftover on the weekend when I make a fresh loaf for my son. Recently, we rarely have any bread leftover from the week to make crumbs because my new everyday bread is so tasty that it’s often all gone even before I can bake up another batch!

Just store your crumbs in a freezer bag inside the freezer, and remove only what you need for your recipes. They will keep practically forever. I use my frozen crumbs frequently for Zucchini Au Gratin during summer’s bountiful Zuchinni harvest.

Now that we have our crumbs, we can make our Spicy Breaded Oven Fries!

Here’s what you’ll need:

4 large Potatoes

4-5 Tbsp Bread Crumbs

1 Tbsp Canola Oil

1/4 tsp Cayenne (or less if you can’t handle spicy)

1/2 tsp Ground Cumin

1 tsp Garlic Powder

1 tsp Salt

1 tsp Black Pepper

1 tsp Paprika

1 tsp Thyme

What to do:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Line 2 baking sheets with Parchment and set aside.

Measure out your spices into a bowl.

Combine spices with Bread Crumbs, then set aside.

Scrub Potatoes and cut in half. Then cut each half into wedges, leaving some skin on each wedge.

Place Potatoes in a large bowl and drizzle with the oil, tossing to coat.

Sprinkle half of crumb mixture over potatoes.

Toss well with a spoon.

Sprinkle the remaining crumb mixture on top.

Toss again, until all the potatoes are fairly evenly coated with the mixture.

Individually lay each wedge on the parchment lined pan, trying to keep them from touching too much.

Once all the potatoes are in the pan, sprinkle any remaining crumb mixture left in the bowl over the top.

Slide trays into oven on middle rack.

Bake for 40-50 minutes (depending on size of wedges) at 425 degrees, until crisp and golden.